Mass Effect: Death Before Dishonor
by Badministrator
Summary: The Reapers? Destroyed and gone. Cerberus? Broken up and disbanded. Shepard? Dead, like so many others, he died a hero...but are all of these things actually true? It seems the universe isn't done with Shepard yet. AN: Hated the ending to Mass Effect 3, but I love the series.
1. Chapter 1: Voices

'Ello lovelies and uglies and anything in between!

Well, I suppose I should explain my incentive for writing this story, no? Mass Effect is probably my favorite game series, I absolutely love EA and their ability to weave a story together. Despite this, I felt a certain….lack of excitement during the ending of Mass Effect 3.

To anyone reading this who hasn't beaten Mass Effect 3, I recommend playing through the story first, then coming back to read this. To anyone who hasn't played the Mass Effect games, I have an even more important message. Go play them! In fact, why the hell would you be on this part of Fanfiction if you hadn't played them?

On to business, in my opinion, the ending to the paragon option, while it needed to end the way it did, was a little lackluster. It still left me with a few more questions and answers. Either way, I plan to remedy my urge to change the ending, by instead continuing the story. Quick think though, I suck at writing. Intro has gone on long enough! High ho Silver, away!

**Disclaimer: Bioware owns every right to all these characters.**

Despite all the chaos, death and destruction that Shepard had witnessed over the past few months, there was really only one question on his mind at the moment. Was it possible to mentally kill yourself? Was there some kind of failsafe in the human mind, that when in so much pain, could just shut down the body and you would die? Shepard wasn't so sure that he was being realistic with his current train of thoughts, but anything to keep his mind off the searing pain he was feeling was a welcome relief from the current norm.

In fact, Shepard wasn't even sure how long he'd been like this, unable to see, unable to hear anything or smell anything, but still able to feel like his whole body was frying. He wasn't so sure how long he'd been this way either. Days? Weeks? Hell, maybe even a month had passed, he didn't know. All he knew right now was pain.

Pain. The searing pain. Was that all he knew anymore? The pain of this unbearable torture, the pain of watching millions of people wiped out, the pain of dying….again, or at least he assumed he was dead. Worst of all, the pain of losing everything he'd ever cared about, everyone, he'd ever cared about. Now that he thought about it though, dying again _was_ kind of the reason that he was in this situation in the first place, so he chalked dying up to the top of the "List of Shitty Things".

And to top it all off, Shepard had no idea what had become of Earth, whether or not he had succeeded in stopping the Reaper invasion. The last thing Shepard could remember was unloading round after round into whatever tech he thought looked important on the Crucible, then a massive explosion. He slightly recalled falling afterwards, fading in and out of consciousness, the stars shimmering, then going dark, but that was it.

Well if this is the afterlife, then where's that goddamn bar that Garrus promised? Maybe this is hell? Though what I did to deserve going to hell is beyond me. I mean, sure I killed a few dozen…err, hundred, humans and aliens in my life, but it was always to protect people. Maybe it was something else I did…?

Shepard mentally scolded himself, dispersing any doubts that crept into his thoughts. At heart, Shepard was a humble man, but even he knew that he had done pulled some amazing stunts in his time, all to protect the innocent.

Still though, a nice, cool glass of Batarian ale would be just the thing to sooth this sore throat we have.

Shepard sighed internally, knowing that he was talking to himself again.

Goddamn, I must be going crazy.

_Crazy? Really? Well I think that you're perfectly sane. _

Instantly, every thought flew from Shepard's mind. He knew that talking to yourself was a sign of craziness, but was making up a new voice in your head a sign of complete and utter insanity? He hoped not, going insane was not something that really appealed to him at the moment…_or ever._

_Hey! I'm not made up, I'm me, and I would prefer to be called by my name, thank-you-very-much._

To say that Shepard was beyond confused, would have been the understatement of the century. This new voice was entirely not his. It was the voice of a young female, probably no older than fourteen, jubilant, full of life with a slight British accent slurring her speech.

_Hello? Are you just going to stay silent? Shepard?_

Shepard stayed silent while he went over the situation. So for some reason he was hearing a voice in his head and somehow it knew his name. Hesitantly, he decided that it was safe to respond, to whoever…or whatever, was talking to him.

Umm…hello there, random voce inside my head. Who are you and why the hell are you in my head? Am I finally going insane?

The voice simply giggled, a cute, high pitched sound and replied quickly.

_Of course you're not going insane, silly. And I'm here in your head cause I'm here to help. _

Help? How can you help me?

Before the voice could reply, another voice joined in the conversation.

**Perhaps, child, you should answer the Commander's first question?**

Once again, for the second time in about five minutes, Shepard's mind was set reeling. This new voice was male, much older than the first voice. For a startling moment, Shepard thought that it was the Illusive Man's voice, but he realized this was not the case. While this voice sounded similar, it was deeper, with a sense of gentility to it. The voice sounded to Shepard like a grandfather, chiding the impatience that comes with youth, with the wisdom that comes with age. Yet with that wisdom also comes a certain cynicism that Shepard could sense. Shepard realized that the voices had continued their conversation and stopped his musing, realizing he could be missing critical information.

_-always been so shy, X. You need to learn to be a little more social._

**Ha! Social? Stop being so naïve. Now hush child, the Commander is already confused as it is, no need to confuse him further. Now is the time for an explanation.**

You're damn right it is! Who the hell are you two and what do you want with me?

**Calm, Commander. Let us explain first, then you may ask us any questions.**

_Oh! OH! Me! Me! Let me explain X! Please, please, please?_

The voice, whom Shepard assumed was X, vented a deep sigh.

…**alright, I suppose you won't stop bothering me about it, so I suppose you can.**

_Really? I can? Really? Hurray! Alright…sooo umm…err…_

The deeper voice, X, chuckled softly, making a quiet tsking sound.

**What a beautiful start. Perhaps our names would be a good start?**

_Humph, I was getting to that. I just needed a place to start. Well, okay, listen up Shepard. I'm Eve, and the stuffy 'ol guy is X…well, really it's Xavier, but I like to call him X. Makes him seem like a superhero, ya know?_

The girl, Eve, let out a little giggle as Xavier, or X, sighed once again.

**Hilarious, Eve. Truly.**

For some reason, Shepard was still hesitant about talking to these voices. After all...voices in your head was a sign that you had some mental illness. Maybe the blast from the Crucible had made Shepard hit his head so hard that now he was imagining voices. That must be it.

**Imaginary? I resent that thought Commander. We are no more imaginary than you. I like to compare ourselves to air. We're always there, yet never seen. I know you must be confused, but trust us, we really are here to help.**

Alright…well you've told me your names, but you still haven't told me what you're doing in my head and what you want.

X seemed to concede this point, and decided to take the lead.

**I suppose you do deserve an explanation, and I can see that Eve will be no help in explaining.**

_Hey!_

**Quiet. Alright, well I'll just get right to the point. You're not dead Shepard.**

I kind of figured…

To be honest, Shepard had no idea whether or not he had died or not. It certainly seemed like he had died and was in some everlasting purgatory, but he couldn't help letting out a mental sigh of relief. Not dying was more often than not, a very good thing.

X let Shepard have a moment to himself, knowing he must be feeling immense relief, but knew that the next piece of information he was about to divulge would be crucial.

**I'm sure you did, Commander, but now I need you to listen to me very carefully. When you destroyed the Catalyst, it destroyed the Reapers, and you saved this cycle. However, destroying the Catalyst also caused a chain reaction among many things in your universe. The mass relays that your cycle uses were not destroyed as the Catalyst said they would be, but they were rendered practically useless.**

What happened to my crew? Garrus? Ashley? Joker? Tal-

Before Shepard could even finish his question, he felt his mind go blank, a darkness creeping into his thoughts. What if something had happened to Tali? What if something had happened and it was all his fault? What if-

Suddenly his mind seemed to shut down for a moment, and Shepard realized that he was unable to form a coherent sentence. He began to panic, realizing that somehow this lack of thought, was somehow X's doing. Sensing his panic, X slowly released his control over Shepard's mind.

**Commander, please, you must calm down. I know you are very confused and worried at the moment, but this is crucial. I'd rather not have to send your brain into a temporary shut down again, so please, let me continue.**

Alright, go ahead, but do that again and I'll...do...something...

X chuckled for a moment, then paused, trying to find the best way to explain the situation to Shepard, but Eve beat him to it.

All of Eve's original jubilance and spirit had disappeared completely, replaced by a quiet seriousness that Shepard found somewhat disturbing.

_Look Shepard, the Catalyst was not an individual being, if you would like to think of it that way. It was an essence, an essence formed over cycles and cycles, tasked with creating a way to keep order in the universe. Think of it like the geth consensus that you visited not long ago. Imagine every essence of the Catalyst in an endless plain, always there, but never truly real, represented in one form. Considering you were the first organic to ever reach our chamber, we took on a form that would be familiar to you. When you destroyed the Catalyst, every essence of the Catalyst had one goal in mind; survival. However, much of the Catalyst's essence perished instantaneously, except for X and I. We realized that there was still a vessel close by that we could attach ourselves to and survive._

Slowly, understanding slowly started to dawn on Shepard. He could see where Eve was going with this.

So…when I destroyed the Catalyst, somehow, you and X…attached yourselves to me.

**Aye, Commander. Eve and I calculated that you had a particularly high chance of survival and immediately transferred ourselves into your mind. It was a bit of a gamble really, there was a severely high chance that Eve and myself would have dissipated, or that you would have become clinically brain-dead. **

Shepard tried to process this information and for some reason, he find that it didn't surprise him as mich as it should. However, one thing was still bothering him immensely.

So…you and Eve are now inside my head, but what happened to the rest of the Catalyst?

There was a slight pause before Eve and X answered in unison, in a monotonous, dead voice.

_**The rest of the Catalyst is dead, Commander Shepard. We are the final essence of the Catalyst.**_

…you have got to be shitting me.

"Well we'll have enough supplies for about two weeks if we ration it out, but we need to find a way out of this situation."

"I know Garrus, we'll find a way out of this." At least, Tali hoped they would.

Garrus simply shrugged, content to let Tali take the lead on this situation. Garrus already had enough on his mind, organizing scav parties, measuring rations, scouting their current area.

It had been a week and a half since the Normandy's crash. When Harbinger had virtually decimated the forces that had been trying to make it to the Crucible, Garrus and Tali had been practically buried under a hailstorm of rubble. To their relief, Joker made an emergency landing, and both were surprised to see most of the crew on board. Apparently the battle had taken a horrible turn, with the Reapers gaining massive amounts of ground and obliterating fire support from the fleets. Joker had tried to land aboard an Alliance frigate, but Harbinger had not forget about the small vessel that had ruined his previous plans with the Collectors. Joker made one last ditch effort to save his ship, using the Mass Relay. He hadn't even picked a specific destination, he just needed to get the fuck out of the Sol system.

Tali wasn't sure what had happened, but somehow the Mass Relay malfunctioned, creating a vibrant red force that knocked the Normandy off its set destination. That was how the crew had ended up here, on some forsaken planet in a system possibly light years away from any form of civilization.

Tali sighed softly, deciding that standing on this outcrop of grass she had chosen as her campsite was not going to get anything done. She began walking towards the crash site of the Normandy, noticing that among the random assortment of tents and shelters set up, Joker had set his up right next to the ship's wrecked hull. Even from several dozen yards away, Tali could make out the occasional flash of skin from holes in the ship as some of the remaining crew salvaged whatever they could. Not all of the crew had survived the crash, among the casualties was Engineer Adams. Specialist Traynor had received a severe concussion and was currently under the care of Dr. Chakwas, who had salvaged whatever medicine and equipment she could.

Slowly, Tali came upon Joker's current campsite, knocking on a nearby tree as she did so.

Joker looked up from where he was seated, startled. "Oh, hey Tali. Sorry, I didn't see you coming…just been... thinking about some things."

"EDI again?" Tali knew that Joker had taken the loss of the ship's AI heavily, even much more so than the ship itself.

"No, not right now…well, yes, but not entirely." Joker said, stumbling over his words.

"Oh? Then what?" Tali asked, curious as to what was troubling Joker so much.

Joker gathered his thoughts before staring, "Well…I'm just wondering what the hell happened."

Tali raised an eyebrow, but realized the effect was lost considering she was wearing her environmental suit.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, I'm wondering what the fuck happened to the Mass Relay when we went through it. I've never seen anything like that before." Pausing for a moment, Joker continued. "I'm also wondering…I'm wondering where the Commander is. If he's alive, ya know?" Instantly, Joker wished he could have taken his last question back. He wasn't fully aware of the Commander's relationship with Tali, but he wasn't dumb, he could see the signs whenever Shepard was with Tali onboard the ship. Plus, EDI wasn't too great at keeping secrets.

Tali looked at a nearby tree, absently studying the contortions and knots in the bark, all the while thinking about the only man she had ever loved. Truly, there was no man that Tali could ever love more than Shepard. She would always admire the way that even in the darkest times, Shepard was always optimistic, as if he never had any inkling that he would fail. She loved everything about that man, from his rare smiles right down to the little scar on his forehead. He had given her love, he had brought peace between her race and the geth, he had given her a home. Shepard had given her a family. And now, she might not be able to give him any of that in return.

Tali looked to the side, noticing Joker's worried look, and knew that her current thoughts would do nothing to lighten his mood.

She placed her had lightly on his leg, speaking softly, "Don't worry Joker, Shepard's safe."

Joker fixed his hat, pulling it to the front. "How do you know that? Don't tell me quarians are psychic?", he asked, only half joking.

Tali shook her head, smiling slightly, "No, we're not. I can just feel it, he's not dead, I'm sure of it. And we will find him." As if to emphasize her point, Tali nodded confidentially, more to convince herself that her words were true.

She could see Joker was still skeptical, but he nodded his thanks anyway.

"Thanks, Tali"

They both smiled at each other, glad that they had found some bright spot of hope in their situation, but looked up at the edge forest as the sound of running alerted them to someone approaching.

Tali stood up from the log she had been sitting on as Garrus and James tried to slow down the speed of their sprint, stumbling on each other slightly as they did so.

"What's going on you two?" Tali asked, wondering why Garrus and James were back from their scouting patrol early and why they had felt the need to hurry back so quickly.

James tried to speak from his crouched position, but it ended up more as a jumble of words and pants. Garrus, quicker to catch his breath, stood up erect, looking directly at Tali as he spoke.

"James and I spotted a shuttle landed on the far side of the valley you and I scouted out yesterday."

Slowly, Tali nodded, remembering that the valley was fairly larger, with only sparse patches of grass and brush covering the ground.

"Well what kind of shuttle is it? Is it help? Is it Alliance?" Tali asked, hopeful.

James stood up now, deadly serious, shooting down Tali's hope. "No, it isn't Alliance, it's Cerberus."

**Bazinga! Yes, Big Bang Theory references people, get with the program. Alright, it sucked, was probably unbelievable and confusing, but fuck it. I've written worse stuff. **

**Today's song of the day: Never Enough by Five Finger Death Punch**

**I will pick random songs for the day, so whoop-de-fucking-do for everyone.**


	2. Chapter 2: Meet Saber Squad

**Good morning, afternoon, or whatever time of the day it is when you are reading this. Alright, so I suppose that I've already made all of my introductions, blah blah blah. Before I start, to anyone who reads this and has a Facebook account, please like the Demand A Better Ending to Mass Effect 3 page. As the slogan of the Retake movement states, "Hold the line!"**

**Also, today's song of the day is Drive by Incubus.**

**Disclaimer! I do not own any rights to these characters or the song.**

"Well, right now, if there's one thing I'm thankful for, it's that my shotgun survived the crash." Tali said to Garrus as they walked along the rocky ground of the valley.

They had been walking for the good part of an hour now, having just reached the mouth of the valley. When Garrus and James had told about their scouting operation, Tali was torn between whether to go scout out the shuttle, or to just leave it. After all, the Normandy's crew was not in the best fighting shape and Tali had no idea how many Cerberus soldiers could be on the shuttle. On the other hand, Tali didn't want to risk giving a Cerberus squad the element of surprise. Since the loss of Shepard, Tali and Garrus had become the de facto commanders of the remaining Normandy crew, and Tali knew that her decision decided the fate of the crew.

Not wanting to appear uncertain of herself, the young quarian had called for a council among the senior members of the crew. It had taken a couple minutes of quiet arguing, but it was decided that Tali, Garrus, Ashley, and James would scout out the shuttle. Before they had reached the mouth of the valley, Ashley and James had split off, traveling along the valley ridge to provide overwatch.

"Glad you're comfortable knowing you could hit the broad side of a turian frigate." Garrus muttered irritably to himself as he slowly advanced forward, towards a particularly barren patch of ground.

In fact, the pistol Garrus had in his hands was not unfamiliar to him, but it was definitely no sniper rifle. To say that Garrus was heartbroken when he found the warped and broken remains of his Mantis would have been an understatement. Hours spent calibrating the sights, cleaning the barrel and polishing the frame suddenly felt wasted and it was hard to not feel even more bitter about the current situation. Losing his sniper rifle was more like losing a friend, really. He remembered all the good times he'd had with that gun, besting Shepard and how-

"Garrus!"

Tali's cry snapped Garrus out of his thoughts as he whirled around quickly, gun drawn, senses alert to any hostile in the vicinity. Slowly, sheepishly, Garrus realized that there was no current threat in the area. Rather, too preoccupied by his own thoughts he had strayed too far forward, breaking the formation that Tali and he had developed in the dangerous confines of this valley.

The formation they were using was an old Alliance marines trick, used to counter possible ambushes in hostile or unknown territory with little cover available. Years ago, during a botched expedition on Daratar, a group of Alliance marines were pin downed by a group of Batarian mercenaries. The Batarians were forced to retreat, but harassed the marines by planning small raids in the vast deserts of the world. Knowing that surprise was a crucial element to any battle, the Alliance squad leader devised a tactic dubbed "Look. Shout. Shoot."

In the vast desert of Daratar, the Batarians were able to hide behind small outcrops of rocks and surprise the marines. So, instead of sending his whole squad forward at once, the commander sent a small group of soldiers forward at intervals of twenty meters, while the rest of the squad waited, keeping lookout. The first instruction given to the marines was to shout at any sign of movement, no matter what. Any sneaky Batarians trying to ruin an Alliance soldier's day would have then found themselves pumped full of hot, metal slugs from several automatic rifles.

While the "Look. Shout. Shoot." technique was simple and time consuming, it was also incredibly effective at neutralizing the threat of an ambush. However, it required a vast amount of patience and concentration, especially in a squad of only two soldiers. Garrus mentally scolded himself fiercely, knowing his mistake could have been fatal.

"Sorry, Tali. I was just preoccupied, I won't get distracted again." As he said this, he knew that it was the truth. Garrus was a soldier above all else, this was what he was trained for everyday.

"It's alright Garrus, we've all got a lot on our minds." Tali sympathized.

Garrus nodded once, knowing the mental turmoil Tali must have been feeling these past few days. However, they were in a delicate situation and Garrus knew now was not the time for a fluffy-feely-heart-felt-talk.

Several hours later, when the sun of this planet was at the highest point in the sky, Garrus and Tali made their way to the end of the valley. They scrambled their way up a steep, rocky incline, pausing as they surveyed the vast jungle that loomed before them.

"Alright, the shuttle should be five klicks southeast of this position." Garrus said to Tali, looking along the ridge of the valley they had just passed through. Faintly, he could make out the light blue armor Ashley wore and small flashes as the sun reflected off of the dull metal of James' Mattock rifle.

Tali walked up beside Garrus, staring out at the strange beauty of this foreign world. "So, what do you suppose we'll find at the landing site?"

"Trouble," Garrus said, a light tone in his voice, "it is Cerberus after all. Though, it was only one shuttle, so I doubt it will be too much for us to handle."

Tali smiled slightly, "We just faced a whole army of Reapers. Facing a Cerberus squad right now will feel like a walk through the park."

Both companions smiled at each other, as Ashley and James emerged from a grouping of trees, walking to meet up with their squad mates and friends. James ran a hand through his mohawk, knocking a few leaves from his hair.

"So Sparks, how are we gonna go about doing this?" James asked, using his nickname for the quarian admiral.

It was a true shame that James wasn't able to see Tali glaring at him through her mask. However, Tali had already grown accustomed to James' nicknames for the crew, and was quick to let it go.

Tali thought for a moment, before deciding that a simple approach would be best. "Well, I suppose we'll have to see how many Cerberus soldiers there are, and then try and flank them. Hopefully we'll catch them by surprise."

James nodded once, already slightly feeling the effects of adrenaline pumping through his blood. This was a feeling James knew well, the heightened awareness, the faint sound of his own heartbeat in his head, the small knot in his stomach. He always felt this right before going on a mission. What separated James from most soldiers was that while a normal man might tense up from these feelings and become nervous, James let these effects come naturally. James had mastered the difficult art of letting his body relax before a fight, something that had saved his life numerous times.

Garrus let a moment pass before pointing toward the direction they were headed, saying, "Alright, let's move out. I want a five meter spread, keep sharp everyone."

After that, with nothing else needing to be said, the squad began working their way through the dense forest, aware of the fact that this could end in complete disaster.

"Goddamnit! How did I lose again! This is bullshit and you know it, you cheater!"

Field Commander Kate Caruso simply giggled as her friend and squad mate raged uncontrollably at his third lost hand in a row. Well…his losing streak didn't really have anything to do with his bad luck, as the aces hidden in Kate's boot could attest to, but Kate decided that it was best for her health if she left that little fact unsaid. Kate had been smart enough to see the opportunity to best Griffon in a few games of poker, but she was also smart enough to realize when her luck would run out. She knew that after one more lost hand, Griffon would know she was cheating, so she decided to cut her winnings now.

Pulling the pile of berries they had been using as bargaining chips towards her, Kate smiled up at the raging youth. "Always remember, don't try and best your superiors," she said, a knowing smile lighting up her beautiful face.

Griffon simply snorted, not falling for Kate's charms. "More like don't try and best your elders," he muttered, earning himself a death glare.

In reality, Kate was really only seven years older than Griffon, who was a tall, muscular, blonde youth of nineteen. Kate, on the other hand, was short, around 5'5", and very slim. Her long, wavy black hair was as black as midnight, and it framed a beautiful face that bore the marks of battle and stress. She was the kind of women that could turn a Krogan's head, and just as easily make that same Krogan piss himself.

Ignoring Griffon's snide remarks, Kate leaned back against the tree she had been sitting next to, hearing the rough bark scratching against her combat armor. Making a small pile out of the berries on her lap, she picked one up and popped it in her mouth, cherishing the way the sweet juices tasted as she chewed the berry slowly. She could practically hear Griffon salivating on himself and smirked to herself slightly. Serves him right, she thought.

Knowing he would not be getting any of the hard scavenged treats, Griffon huffed to himself, wiped a little drool form his lip, and went to sit by the campfire. He made a large show of sitting down, making as much noise as he could manage, and sat there, poking the fire. He even threw in a few grumbles, which Griffon thought was a nice touch, yet Kate was either too happy eating, or just chose to ignore him.

Eventually, Griffon decided that no matter how hard he tried to be annoying, Kate was just too stubborn and selfish to share. Just the thought of those berries set his stomach grumbling, and Griffon clutched at it pitifully.

"I can stand all of the huffing and puffing, but tell that bear of a stomach of yours to keep quiet, will ya?"

Griffon jumped slightly, startled, at the sudden abrupt demand from the deep voice behind him. He twisted his head over his shoulder, staring at the black bundle of clothes that was nestled in the crook of a nearby tree.

"Yeah, well at least it wasn't as bad as your snoring, Skinner." Griffon shot back, glad his friend was finally awake.

The man untangled his arms from the blanket he was using, stretching them high above his head, his muscles aching from lack of use. He scratched the back of his head absently, yawning as he did so, replying through the yawn. "I don't snore."

Griffon grinned, "Oh? So what was that noise coming from your mouth? I believe it's something people do when they are asleep…oh yeah, it's called snoring." In truth, Skinner had not been snoring at all, but Griffon was prone to exaggerate, and he needed something to argue about.

"Griffon Hayrick Driscoll, the day I start snoring, is the day you learn to shut your damn mouth." Skinner replied curtly, standing up and stretching out his muscles as he did so.

Chief Warrant Officer Vincent "Skinner" Taylor was, without a doubt, one of Griffon's best friends, and had been the one to recruit Griffon into Saber squad. Tall, slim and lithe, Vincent was built like a runner, able to run for hours on end, one of the reasons why he was the squad's recon commander. Unlike Griffon's short blonde hair, Vincent had dark auburn hair, reaching the middle of his neck, and spiky in the front.

Even after knowing Vincent for at least a dozen years, Griffon had never managed to cajole Vincent into talking about his life before being recruited into Saber squad. All he could manage to get out of Vincent was that as a child, he had often been the victim of much abuse for his heterochromia iridum.

Like his mother, Vincent had been born with a lack of melanin in his right eye, causing it to become hypo chromatic. The result was the iris of his right eye changing from a dark, rich brown, into a bright, vibrant blue, giving Vincent a slightly manic look. Griffon had grown accustomed to Vincent's stare, but even so, could only hold eye contact for about twenty seconds at most.

Griffon grinned, unperturbed by the use of his full name, "So you're saying that day will never happen?"

Vincent smirked, something he did often, "Exactly, glad to see you've finally understood that." Turning to Kate, Vincent made a flourishing bow, holding his head down and his knee bent. "Kate, looking more beautiful every time I blink."

Kate smiled, knowing exactly what Vincent wanted. "So you think a few compliments will get me to share with you, huh?" Vincent smiled innocently, aware that his intentions had been found out. Sighing in mock irritation, Kate decided she would not be able to eat in peace, so she chucked a few of the decedent berries at Vincent's face, who caught them happily.

"What! How come he gets some, but I-" Before Griffon could begin another rant, Vincent held up on finger discreetly by his side. Instantly, Griffon quieted, knowing that while Vincent kept up the pretense of chewing, he was concentrating very hard on something. Kate had also seemed to find something to occupy her interest, in this case, the dirt stuck in her boot, but was listening intently.

Griffon knew instantly that Vincent had detected some type of threat, had heard some noise that was different than the normal noises of the jungle they were in. Griffon busied himself with tending the fire, adding small twigs to it while he waited anxiously.

Slowly, very quietly, Vincent said, "Griffon, over my left shoulder." When Griffon turned his head to look at the direction, Vincent shook his head unobtrusively. "No, don't turn your head, just look with your eyes. Use your peripheral."

Understanding dawned on Griffon, and seeming to look at Vincent's face, he was really staring slightly over his shoulder, searching. Still searching, he tried to strike up a conversation.

"So, what's up with you Skinner?" Griffon asked, using Vince's nickname.

Vincent raised an eyebrow, "What's up with me? Well, let's see, we're on a deserted planet, barely any food, scarce ammo, and you woke me up from my nap. What's up with you Grif?"

Being so focused on his current task, Griffon found it hard to come up with a crushing reply, so he instead settled for a small shrug. After an intense amount of searching, Griffon decided that there was no threat and Vincent had been wrong. For once.

"Well, I can't see anything Skinner, maybe you're just losing your touch?" Griffon said, grinning, at the same exact moment he heard a soft click, right next to his ear. Whirling around, Griffon realized something was blocking his vision. A gun barrel, to be exact.

Sighing, Vincent pressed his fingers to his temples, completely unsurprised at the sudden appearance of the four soldiers. In fact, Vincent had allowed them to overtake the campsite, knowing that a fight would be disastrous to both sides, but mostly to teach Grif a lesson.

"Alright, put your guns down, and then put your hands behind your heads." Said the turian, whom Vincent guessed was the leader of the group, considering the amount of command in his voice. This one, Vincent thought, would be a bit of a handful.

Slowly, Vincent and Kate, who had had her hand ready to draw her weapon, tossed their pistols to the ground, kicking them towards a muscular looking human soldier.

Grif, who was still staring, somewhat cross eyed, at the barrel of the gun, noticed who was holding him captive, and smirked slightly.

"Well now, who might you be, sweetie?" He asked to the very attractive brunette that was glaring down at him.

The brunette in the light blue armor glared even harder, putting as much venom into her voice as she could, "I'm the one who's about a half pound of trigger force away from putting a whole between your beady eyes. Give me a reason not to."

Griffon smirked more, liking the fire in this young woman. "Well, I can give you several right now. I'm very attractive, charming, and I can play the guitar pretty well, if I do say so myself." Slowly, dawning of what the woman had said worked its way through Griffon's thick skull and he scowled slightly. "My eyes are not beady, thank you very much." He said with slight indignation.

Before the brunette could reply, Vincent and Kate, much to Griffon's chagrin, uttered a few barks of laughter, catching the four soldiers off guard.

"Grif, yours eyes are even more beady than a varen's." Vincent said, uttering a few giggles from Kate.

Overcoming his shock, the turian tilted his head slightly, "You seem awfully calm, considering the situation you're in."

Vincent smiled easily at the turian, who didn't seem impressed and said, "Well, I figure that if you wanted us dead, you could have already shot us by now, no?"

Conceding the point, the turian nodded, and then asked, more seriously, "Alright. Now, who are you? We already know you are Cerberus, but Cerberus was destroyed. What are you doing here?"

Vincent thought for a moment, then decided that he would risk asking a question of his own. "Well…first, how about we all sit down around the fire, yeah?"

The turian laughed, a laugh devoid of humor, and stared at the Cerberus operative slightly, "Why should we let you do that?"

"Well, we would all be more comfortable, and I figure that we could have a civil conversation, yeah? I mean, you also already took our weapons, what harm can we do?" Vincent smiled disarmingly at the turian, trying to get him to see his logic.

"Garrus."

The turian, whom Vincent now knew as Garrus, turned to look at the quarian, who had been quiet so far. The quarian slowly lowered her shotgun, but Vincent noticed she still kept it ready in case she needed to use it.

The quarian nodded slightly, saying, "Don't worry Garrus, I don't trust Cerberus at all, but they have no weapons, and my legs are a little sore from the walk here."

Garrus shrugged slightly, and lowered his pistol down, nodding at Ashley and James to do the same.

Vincent smiled at the quarian, motioning for everyone to come sit down around the campfire. After everyone was seated somewhat comfortably, with the four Alliance soldiers on one side of the fire and the three Cerberus operatives on the opposite side.

"Well, I suppose that since we are the captives, we may as well start answering the first questions, no?" Vincent asked. Before he received a reply, Vincent stuck one of his hands out at the quarian.

"I'm Chief Warrant Officer Vincent Taylor, Recon Commander of Saber Squad." Vincent said, his slight Russian accent coming out, which Griffon noticed. Vincent's accent never really showed, until he was either incredibly angry, or on edge.

The quarian simply stared at his outstretched hand, making no attempt to shake hands. Vince smiled slightly to himself, understanding why he was being greeted with such hostility and he took no offense.

"Well, this beautiful woman to my left is Field Commander Kate Caruso, formerly assigned to Heavy squad. This ugly bastard to my right is Staff Sergeant Griffon Driscoll, Saber squad."

As Vincent said their introductions, Kate bowed her head deeply, while Griffon simply grunted. Vincent then made a small gesture with his hand, signifying that he would now like to know the name of his captors.

The quarian took the lead, but not before hesitating a moment, "My name is Tali Zorah nar Rayya, admiral of the quarian fleet. Garrus Vakarian, former C-Sec officer. James Vega, N7 soldier. And finally, Lieutenant Commander Ashley Williams."

Upon hearing these names, Tali could practically see Griffon's eyes popping out of his head, while the leader, Vincent, and the woman, Kate, were more subtle about their surprise.

Slowly, Vincent rubbed at his goatee, narrowing his eyes slightly. "You were all Commander Seán Shepard's old crew members, weren't you?"

Slowly, Tali nodded her head, no doubt aware that Cerberus had had extensive bios about Shepard and all of his old squad mates.

Faintly, the crunching of twigs and the sound of voices carried through the wind, reaching the ears of everyone at the campsite. Garrus and James quickly stood up, guns drawn, while Tali and Ashley locked their sights on the three Cerberus soldiers across from them.

Standing up slowly, Vincent held up his hands, "Don't worry, don't worry. Miss Tali Zorah, please, don't worry, those are just our companions coming back from a scav search."

Tali narrowed her eyes at Vincent, gun held level with his eyes, "You mean there is more of you?"

Vincent nodded, still holding his hands by his head, "Yes, we sent the rest of our squad out for a scav search a few hours ago. Please, calm down. We have not been associated with Cerberus for a while now, we are not here to cause you any harm. After all, we are all stranded together, no?"

Tali, eyes still narrowed, slowly lowered her gun, motioning for Garrus, Ashley and James to do the same. "Alright then…lead the way."

Vincent smiled at the quarian admiral, a smile that Tali found to be quite cute actually, and said, "Well alright then. Come, let's go meet the rest of the squad, shall we?"


End file.
